Little Paddy
by DiscordantPrincess
Summary: Princess Celestia meets young Padraic Ratigan after he's caught trying to steal apples from her private orchard. Little does the colt realize that she's got very special plans for him. Two-shot.
1. The Princess and the Colt

**Zecora: Welcome, readers of . Here is a story we hope you shan't forget. A yarn our dear DiscordantPrincess has spun, so sit back and read, for our tale has begun.**

**Thanks, Zecora! (hugs) OK, here we have a two-shot prequel to the "Ratti in Ponyville" series, in which our favorite rodent-turned-pony is a little colt and meets Princess Celestia for the first time. This story is dedicated to FairyTales And Pixie Dust, ShiningShadow1965, and Cellenia. Hope you all enjoy!**

It was a beautiful day in the city of Canterlot. At the Canterlot palace, Princess Celestia, the grand monarch of the land of Equestria and keeper of the sun and moon, was reading a scroll depicting the minutes from her last meeting with the deligates from Buckdad.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Celestia spoke up. In strolled Chain Mail, the captain of her royal guard. The white pegasus saluted. "Princess Celestia, some of my men caught a thief in your private orchard, trying to steal apples. His accomplices escaped, unfortunately. We request to bring him in for you to decide his punishment."

Celestia sighed. "Very well, Chain, bring him in."

Chain grinned, then turned to the door. "Bring the punk in, boys!" Celestia watched as two of the guards dragged in the thief, chains around his legs and neck. She gasped when she saw that the thief was a small earth pony colt, no older than six or seven. He had a gray coat covered with dirt and dust, a messy black mane and tail, gold eyes and a cutie mark of a pi symbol. He looked half-starved and frightened.

"Shame on you men, chaining up a little colt like that!" Celestia chastised her guards. "Release him this instant!" The guards looked confused, but obeyed. The colt blinked as they removed the chains, but instead of running or crying, like she expected him to do, he just stood there, without making a sound.

"But Your Highness, this colt is a thief," Chain interjected. "All thieves must be punished!"

"He attempted to steal APPLES, Chain," Celestia reminded him. "There is no limit of apples, they grow on trees. And what's more, this poor thing looks like he hasn't had a decent meal in ages! You can all go, I shall question him myself."

"Yes, Princess," Chain responded, bowing. He and the other guards turned and left. As he left, he looked straight at the colt. "You got lucky THIS time, kid!"

Once the guards left, Celestia approached the colt, who backed away nervously. "Calm down, little one, I'm not going to hurt you," she told him gently. "I apologize for my guards' brutish behavior, they tend to get a little overzealous whenever some crime actually happens around here. They didn't hurt you with those chains, did they?"

"N-No, Princess Celestia," the colt responded.

Celestia smiled. "That's good. What's your name, my child?"

"Padraic Ratigan, Princess Celestia," the colt introduced himself.

"That's a very nice name. Now tell me, why were you in the private orchard?" Little Padraic began to shake. The princess could see the fear in his eyes. "It's all right, my dear. Just be honest and tell me why you were in the orchard."

"B-Because I was hungry," Padraic answered. A loud rumbling sound coming from the colt's stomach confirmed his response.

Celestia nodded. "Go on, please."

"My friends and I were walking by the orchard, and we saw the apples, and we thought they looked delicious, so we decided to take some," Padraic continued. "The guards saw us and chased us. I tripped on a root and my friends all left me."

"Hmm, sounds like you need to choose your friends more carefully," Celestia suggested.

Padraic flattened himself onto his belly and quivered. "I'm so sorry, Princess Celestia, I know it was stupid, but I was just so hungry I couldn't resist!" He started to cry. "I am such an imbecile!"

Celestia blinked. "My, you certainly have an impressive vocabulary for such a young colt."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia."

"Please, dear, you don't have to address me so formally each time you speak. Now why were you so hungry? Doesn't your mother feed you?"

"I don't have a mother. She and my father both died in a fire when I was five. I live at the Canterlot orphanage."

"And do you like it there?"

"I HATE it! All of the other foals torment me and make fun of me because I'm the only one there who isn't a unicorn! They steal my food and push me around in the mud! That's why I'm so hungry."

"Doesn't the headmistress do anything to help?"

"She tries, but nopony ever listens to her. They all just keep picking on me and calling me a hornless freak! It got so bad that I had to turn to books and studies just to get away from them."

Celestia smiled. "A young scholar. Very impressive. Do you enjoy your studies?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am. I love all subjects, especially mathematics." Padraic pointed to his flank. "That's why I have my cutie mark so early, because I discovered my passion very early. That's another reason why the others bully me; none of them have their cutie marks yet. They said that I'm a nerd and a freak." He started to cry again.

Celestia held the colt close to her in a hug. "Shh, it's all right. You poor baby." She got an idea. "You know, I could always use a colt with your talent here. If you'd like, I can talk to the headmistress about letting you stay here in the palace."

Padraic smiled for the first time since he was brought into the throne room. "Really?"

"Oh yes. You have a great talent for knowledge, my boy, and I think that with my help, you can flourish beyond what most ponies can only dream of."

Padraic's smile grew into an ear-to-ear grin. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you, Princess Celestia!"

"You're quite welcome, Padraic. Chain Mail!"

The guard came in. "Yes, Princess Celestia?"

"Call a meeting with Tender Love from the Canterlot orphanage," Celestia ordered him. "I want to speak to her about making young Mr. Ratigan here my personal student."

Chain eyed the princess oddly for a moment, but bowed. "Of course, Princess." He glared at little Padraic. "Lucky little brat." Padraic responded by sticking his tongue out at the guard as he left.

"I saw that," Celestia told him.

Padraic grinned embarrassedly. "Sorry, Princess."

"Don't be. I want to do the same to him sometimes." That made the colt giggle. Just then, his tummy let out another loud growl, making him frown sadly. "While we wait for Ms. Love to come, why don't you and I take a stroll to the kitchen and grab a little snack? There should still be some cake left over from the Grand Galloping Gala."

Padraic smiled. "I'd like that, thank you." With that, the princess and the colt trotted off together.

**OK, don't lie, peeps, you want to give little Paddy a hug right about now. I know I sure as heck do! (Huggles the adorable little colt) And if any of you want to beat up Chain Mail and the other guards for being such flankheads to a starving orphan...be my guest! Thankfully Celestia is as kind as they are brutish.**

**No, Luna is not in this story...I love her, but this story takes place YEARS before she returned from turning into Nightmare Moon and being banished to the moon, the Mane Six would not have even been born at this time, seeing as their parents would probably be roughly around Paddy's age...oh Discord, I just made my mane couple totally squicky, didn't I?**

**Thanks for reading, my friends! See you soon for part two!**

**All my best, DiscordantPrincess. **


	2. The Royal Tour

**Hi, everypony! Well, here it is, the second and final part of "Little Paddy." Hope you all enjoy, and please leave your comments when you're done.**

Later that day, Celestia was taking little Padraic on a tour of the palace grounds. She had spoken with Tender Love, who had agreed to let the colt be Celestia's student and live at the palace. She adored little Padraic dearly and wanted to make sure he had a better life than the one she could provide for him at the orphanage.

At one point, the princess and the colt were walking through the Canterlot sculpture garden. "Oh my, these statues are so exquisite!" Padraic commented. "They're so lifelike!"

"That's because they were all once real ponies," Celestia explained calmly. "What you're looking at is the fate of Equestrian criminals across history."

"WHAT?!" Padraic shrieked, practically jumping out of his skin.

Celestia chuckled. "Calm down, dear, it was just a joke." Padraic calmed down. "Contrary to popular belief, I do not possess the power to set ponies in stone. These are all just statues carved by master craftsponies to represent different virtues of Equestria, such as friendship and victory."

Padraic nodded as he walked alongside the princess. Then, he stopped in front of an especially odd statue. It depicted a creature made up of many different animal body parts. "Excuse me, Princess Celestia? I remember reading about those creatures and that they're called draconequi. So, what does the statue represent?"

Celestia frowned. "That statue, Padraic, is Discord."

"You mean like the idea of a lack of harmony?"

"No, my boy. You see, many eons ago, before I even existed, Discord was a cruel tyrant who ruled all of ponydom with an iron paw. He tortured everypony with his neverending chaos and disharmony."

"So what happened to him?" Padraic asked.

"Do you remember how I just told you that I can't turn ponies into stone?" Celestia asked. Padraic nodded. "Well, it is true. Alone I do not have the power, but with the power of the Elements of Harmony, Discord was sealed away, stopping his reign of terror. What you are viewing is his petrified body, kept here so I can keep an eye on him should he ever come back and start on any of his shenanigans."

Padraic gulped as he looked at the frozen draconequus. He hid behind Celestia's leg. "I'm scared, Princess Celestia."

Celestia smiled sweetly. "Don't be, sweetie. He's not coming back today. But perhaps we SHOULD move on with our tour, yes?" Padraic nodded. "Let's go." They walked away from the statue and into the palace.

* * *

"And here, we have the library," Celestia was describing. "This is where your classes will commence."

Padraic gasped as he looked at the massive shelves of books, his eyes sparkling. "Oh my word...I've never seen so many books in one place in my entire life! Back in the orphanage we only had about a dozen books, and I read them all so much I had memorized them!"

"You like it?" Celestia asked.

"Oh, it's WONDERFUL!"

"Well, as my student you have twenty four-seven access to the library, so you can read as many books as your heart desires."

Padraic grinned. "Oh thank you, Princess!"

"You're quite welcome, my child. Now, let's move on." They walked together to see the kitchen, the dining room, the tea room, the various bathrooms (where some maids gave Padraic a bath and made him clean and neat), and the various balconies.

* * *

At one time, they were both standing on the balcony as Celestia set the sun and brought up the moon. When she was done, Padraic looked up at her. "May I ask you a question, Princess Celestia?"

"Of course, Padraic. Ask me anything you wish."

"Why were you so nice to me? I mean, I had just tried to steal some of your private apples. And why did you make me your student? I'm not a unicorn, I can't use magic."

Celestia smiled. "I was nice to you, because I could see the real you. You weren't just some heartless criminal, you were a scared, hungry colt with no family. And while it's true that you can't use magic, you have the most nimble and brilliant mind I've ever seen. Like I said, I can always use another brain around here." Just then, a bell rang inside the palace. "Oh, dinner is ready. I asked the chefs to make a variety of foods, seeing as I don't know what you like."

Padraic smiled. "As long as I actually get to eat, I'm not picky."

* * *

After dinner, Celestia led Padraic through more hallway. Just then, the little colt yawned. "Oh, excuse me, I guess I'm a little sleepy."

Celestia smiled. "Understandable, seeing as you've had a very big day." She stopped in front of an ornate door. "That's why I wanted to end our tour here." She opened the door to reveal a lovely bedroom with a canopy bed with blue silk sheets, a large dresser full of finely-tailored clothes, a large bookshelf with many books and a few toys. "This is your bedroom. I had some of the servants fix it up for you while we were on our tour. I didn't know what you'd like, so I hope this is acceptable."

"It's WONDERFUL!" Padraic responded. "I love it. Thank you so much again, Princess Celestia." He hugged her leg.

Celestia nuzzled the colt. "You're very welcome, my dear. I'll have some servants get you up for breakfast. Good night." With that, she left the colt in his new bedroom, gently shutting the door behind him.

Little Padraic danced around the room for a minute. He could hardly believe that this was going to be his life from now on. Then, he walked over to his bed and crawled in. He smiled contently as he lay on his tummy, which felt full and satisfied for the first time for quite a while, rested his head against the soft pillow and drifted off to sleep.

**Awwwwwwwwwwwww! I love happy endings! And I just want to huggle and squeeze little Paddy right now, he is just too darn cute!**

**Ah, Celestia, you little joker, you! And just so you peeps know, no I do NOT support the idea of Trollestia, I just think she has a good sense of humor (which is a good trait for a ruler, if you ask me) and enjoys teasing her subjects every once in a while.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the part of Celestia telling Discord's story...hopefully it sounds like a believable story. Poor little Paddy got scared, though (hugs him to make him feel better)**

**Yes, our little guy has a VERY extended vocabularly for a six-year-old. Keep in mind though that this is RATIGAN we're talking about, perhaps the most intelligent and well-educated member of the Disney villain lineup (one of the many reasons why he's my favorite), it wouldn't surprise me if he had a huge vocab as a kid. **

**Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope you enjoyed! Please R&R!**

**All my best, DiscordantPrincess.**


End file.
